protecther
by Chella's Universe
Summary: It was hard enough getting by these days without having to worry about anyone else. The last thing he needed was to be looking after her. (A Marble Hornets fic that plays on the question of what "the ark" really is. Rated T for possible violence, light gore and coarse language.)
1. prologue: two years later

( **A/N:** Hello everybody! Welcome to the first chapter of _protecther_! This fic is mostly a challenge I set for myself. I challenged myself to write a fanfiction for Marble Hornets that doesn't entirely suck, since I watched the series to the end for the second time and I was inspired by some other great MH fanfictions to write my own! This will be a test of my own writing abilities, so reviews are highly recommended. I'm trying to improve, so if you think this story needs some touching up then please leave some constructive criticism in the reviews! Thanks, and now without further ado, let's begin!)

Prologue: Two Years Later

It had been two years since he had packed what little belongings he still had and left his old hometown for good. Two years since he had thrown that pale white face in the trash can behind that service station. Two years since Jay's death and Alex's murder. Two years since he had pushed Brian off that ledge at Benedict Hall.

After leaving, Timothy Wright had settled down in a small town in Florida. He found steady work, made a few acquaintances, and had started going to a therapist. He was determined to leave his past back in Alabama and move on as a new man. Of course, the process of doing so had its ups and downs. Nightmares plagued him like a disease, and he still found himself looking over his shoulder when he was alone. Whenever he went somewhere, something would always remind him of Jay, or Brian, or even Alex. It was unnerving, and he hated it.

The night he got the phone call, he was up late watching re-runs of _Friends_. It was almost 11pm, and the last thing he was expecting was for his mobile to ring. When it started to vibrate in his pocket, he flinched before pulling it out and answering it.

"Hello?"

Silence.

Tim frowned. "Hello?"

"Outside." Static crackled through the receiver.

"Who is this?"

"Outside," the person repeated. Their voice was too monotone for Tim to assign a gender to, and the way they spoke was enough to give him goosebumps.

Without even realising what he was doing, Tim got up and walked over to the window. The phone was still pressed against his ear, but the person on the other end hadn't spoken again. Carefully, Tim parted the curtains and stared out onto the street. When he saw what was out there, he immediately wished he hadn't.

He was no more than a few yards away, standing just before the curb on the edge of the front lawn. He wore that same signature outfit, the one that Tim and Jay had begun to fear during their time working together. Yellow hoodie, blue jeans, black sneakers and gloves. The black and red cloth that was his mask hung limply from his belt, and his pale face was pinched and tight. Hollow eye sockets housed nothing but white, and his broken neck barely supported his head. The two men locked eyes from opposite sides of the yard, and Tim watched as Brian's blue lips mouthed one single word that echoed through the receiver and into Tim's ear.

"Ark."

* * *

"So, your friend was standing outside your house?" Angie asked him for confirmation.

Tim fidgeted with his hands. "Yeah. He called me and told me to look outside, and he was standing on my front lawn."

Angie nodded and wrote something down on the form attached to her clipboard. She was in her mid-forties, with greying brown hair and thin lips. She was the senior psychologist at Tim's clinic. Angie had been taking Tim's therapy sessions ever since he moved here, so she had a pretty good idea what he had been through - minus a few major details.

"So, this was Brian, correct?" she asked. "The one who died in the construction accident?"

"Yeah, he fell from a crane." The same old lie seemed to be doing its job still.

"And you haven't seen him before? He hasn't appeared to you since you moved?"

"No … I have nightmares about him, though. I've told you about those already, haven't I?" Mostly lies, again.

"Yes, I have them in your files." Angie sighed and took off her glasses. "I wouldn't usually recommend this treatment to a patient, but I think it's best if you just ignore it."

Tim took a minute to process what his counsellor had said. "Ignore it."

"Let me explain. You haven't been getting enough sleep, and your medication has side effects. It's simply a trick of your mind, nothing more. Your subconscious is making these hallucinations stronger because the anniversary of Brian's death is drawing closer." Angie smiled a weak smile. "The human mind is a strange thing, Timothy. Now, I think you should go home and rest, and if these apparitions return then please come back and see me." She stood and gathered her equipment. Tim stood as well, and they both shook hands before parting ways.


	2. chapter 1: terrors

**Chapter One: Terrors**

Tim shot up in bed, gripping the covers with sweaty hands. Another nightmare had roused him from his rather peaceful sleep. This time, Brian and Jay were drowning in an ocean of static, and Tim was forced to watch helplessly as wave after wave blurred their appearances. When they had disappeared completely, he woke up.

The clock on his nightstand read 2:47am. It was early; earlier than he usually woke up from night terrors. He reached for his pills, only to grasp an empty space. _That's right,_ he thought to himself. _I left them in the kitchen._

Reluctantly, he got out of bed and flicked on his beside lamp. Long shadows stretched across his carpet, and Tim expertly dodged them as he made his way out into the hallway. He flicked another light on and the narrow corridor illuminated with warm yellow light.

That's when he noticed the glow in the living room.

Quietly, Tim walked down the hallway and stopped in the doorway. His TV was on, and colour bars twitched across the screen as the channels flicked past in rapid succession. Bursts of faint coloured light decorated the carpet and the walls. The remote was balanced on the arm of the sofa, so there was no way it was controlling the set.

Suddenly, the display turned pure white. Tim watched, his breathing shallow, as black lines inched their way across the screen, twisting and turning like snakes as they positioned themselves into the shape of a face. No, it was a mask.

The same mask that Tim had thrown away two years ago.

A chill ran down his spine and he quickly dashed across the room, snatched up the remote and turned the television off. He definitely hadn't left the TV on because he distinctly remembered turning it off.

The house was deathly quiet, and the silence rang in Tim's ears. He grabbed his pills from the kitchen counter and swallowed one before squeezing his eyes shut. Imprints of the TV were burnt into the back on his eyelids, and they drifted through the darkness like smoke.

 _Smoke_ , he thought. _I need a cigarette._

He pulled open his kitchen drawer and sifted through the various odds and ends inside before pulling out a packet of cigarettes and a lighter. With shaking hands he lit the end and took a long drag of smoke. His landlord didn't allow smoking inside the house because it made the place stink, but Tim didn't care. Twenty bucks for a cleaning fee wasn't a huge sacrifice.

* * *

Somehow, Tim had fallen asleep on the couch again.

He struggled to open his eyes, daylight threatening to blind him as he stirred. Slowly, he sat up and rubbed his face. Half a cigarette was held between his fingers; he discarded it on the coffee table and got up to make coffee. The microwave clock read 6:41am, and work started at seven thirty.

Tim tried to remember what he had seen last night. The TV turning on by itself, showing the mask. Was this Brian's ghost trying to tell him something? He wasn't sure.

A quick cup of coffee, a piece of toast and a warm shower made him feel a bit more awake, but when he caught sight of his reflection in the medicine cabinet mirror, he saw just how terrible and haggard he looked. Dark circles under his eyes confirmed the fact that he hadn't slept well for a while, and his hair was starting to get ridiculously long. Stubble sprouted around his chin and on his jawline.

 _Who gives a shit,_ Tim thought to himself. _No one's going to care._

He grabbed his keys and wallet and left.

* * *

She sat in the waiting room, squeezing wet tissues in her fists. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and a half-drunk paper cup of white tea sat going cold on the small table beside her. She stared ahead, quiet and shivering under the hospital air conditioning, her vision blurred by fresh tears.

They were ringing her older first cousin, since all her grandparents had died when she was only young. Her father had an older sister, Janet, but they couldn't find a phone number or a house address for her. Instead, they had to ring Janet's only son.

"Kaianna, do you need anything?" one of the nurses asked the girl.

Kaianna shook her head, staring at the floor and trying to stop tears from falling.

The nurse returned to the hospital corridor.

A baby screamed from somewhere in the building. Phones rang and people talked, cleaning staff rolled trolling down the hallways and doctors walked along with clipboards in their hands and stethoscopes around their arms. Somehow, Kaianna mustered enough concentration and blocked out all the noise so she could only hear her own shaky breathing and her blood pounding in her ears.

"Good news, Kaianna," a doctor - Dr Ryan she recalled - said as he entered the waiting room. "We got in contact with your cousin."

Kaianna nodded.

"He lives in Florida."

 _Great. Just my luck that he lives on the other side of the damn country,_ she thought.

"He said he'll be here to collect you in a day or two. In the meantime, you're to stay at the hospital here so we can keep an eye on you. You're welcome to take a private room if you wish."

"OK."

Dr Ryan left, clearly concerned about the girl but deciding not to press the matter any further. Kaianna was grateful for this; she didn't feel like talking.

She placed the wet tissues next to her cup and wiped her hands on her jeans, and then tried to remember the last time she had seen her cousin. It took her a while to even remember his name and what he looked like. He had dark hair, yes she remembered that, and it was kind of long and hung in his face. Yeah, and he had dark eyes too. Or were they blue? No, they were definitely brown or something close to that. How tall was he? Over five and a half feet, she guessed. Was he old now, or young? Was he married? What was his name?

She dozed off, just as an answer to her last question floated into her mind.

 _Tim._


	3. chapter 2: collection

**Chapter Two: Collection**

Tim packed furiously.

He had been on break - thank God - when he got the call from the hospital in Seattle. Something about his cousin, whom he hadn't seen since she was one. She was almost sixteen now, they told him. There was something about an accident, too. Tim couldn't remember the details, but he could recall that it involved a car, and that it had killed his uncle and aunt. His cousin was now an orphan, and all the people she knew were gone.

At least he would have one thing in common with her.

It would take him ages to get to Seattle. He thought about driving, but it would take too long and it would be too expensive to pay for gas. In the end, he had to book flights online that would take him to Seattle and back home the next day, and also found a cheap motel they could stay in for the night.

Tim couldn't remember his cousin very well; it had been years since he had seen her, and he was only eleven when he saw her last. The age of eleven was not a happy time for Tim. He was still in the mental hospital back then.

Within three hours of returning home from work, Tim was packed and on the road for the airport. His flight was due to leave at 3pm, so he had approximately half an hour to check in, go through security and find his gate, then he would get on the plane to Seattle, get a cab to the hospital and go from there. He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to do when he got there, even how he was going to console his cousin, but he decided whatever happened happened and there was nothing he could do to prepare.

* * *

The trip to Seattle went ahead as normally as it could have. Tim managed to catch a cab in the chaos of the Seattle Airport parking lot and it took him to the hospital, where he would collect his cousin and take her to a hotel on the other side of town.

It was busy when he arrived. There were people everywhere, a mixture of staff and patients weaving between each other to reach their destinations. Tim had no idea where he was supposed to go, so he walked up to a woman sitting at the reception desk.

"Excuse me, I'm supposed to collect my cousin from somewhere in here. Do you know where I could find her?" he asked.

The woman looked up. "Sure. What's her name? I can tell you what room she's in. "

"Um, I don't think she's a patient here. I was just told to come and collect her."

Her eyes widened slightly in realisation. "Oh, are you here to pick up Kaianna Allen?"

Something rang a bell when she mentioned that name. "Yeah, that's her."

The receptionist picked up a clipboard and moved around to the front of the desk, then motioned for Tim to follow her as she walked briskly down the hallway.

In a few minutes, the woman had directed Tim to a small waiting room. It was empty, except for a girl sitting alone with a suitcase on the seat next to her. She stared at the floor as if she was waiting for it to start moving, but she looked up when Tim and the receptionist walked into the room.

"Kaianna, your cousin is here to pick you up," the woman told the girl calmly. "You can gather your things and he'll take you home with him. OK?"

Kaianna didn't say anything as she picked up her suitcase, pushed past Tim and the woman and then proceeded down the corridor.

"I'm very sorry about her behaviour," the receptionist apologised. "It's been a tough week for her."

"She'll come around eventually," Tim assured her.

They shook hands and parted ways.

* * *

The car ride to the motel was silent.

Tim had attempted to make small talk, but Kaianna wasn't interested in listening. She sat quietly and stared at the passing city through the window. He didn't blame her, however. She had just lost her loved ones, and he knew all too well how that felt.

"Where are we going?" Kaianna asked suddenly, making Tim flinch a little.

"Oh … I got us a room at a motel. Is that OK?" he replied.

"It'll have to be, won't it?" she muttered.

Tim pursed his lips and kept driving.


	4. chapter 3: staying

**Chapter Three: Staying**

They got to the motel just before twilight. It was in good condition - better than what both of them had expected - with a small pool and a restaurant beside the reception. Tim left his cousin in the car while he checked in, and then returned to drive the car up to the door of room 3. They unloaded their bags and went inside.

Two single beds were pushed against opposite sides of the room, and a small ensuite was tucked into a small room in the corner. A kitchenette complete with a small bar fridge and a stovetop stretched across the other wall near the door, but ended at the side of a TV cabinet where a small box television was housed.

"Well, its clean," Tim commented as he placed his bags down on his bed. "We even have free cable TV."

Kaianna sniffed haughtily. "The motels in Australia were better. We got Austar and free tea and coffee."

Tim didn't reply; he opened his bag and pulled out some fresh clothes before moving towards the door of the ensuite. "I'm going for a shower, unless you want to go first."

His cousin shook her head. "No, you go. I have to check that my camera's OK."

Tim stopped. "Camera?"

"Yeah, it's an Instax. Y'know, the Polaroid ones." She pulled out a small mint-coloured case from her suitcase and opened it to reveal a small camera of the same colour and a plastic wallet album full of small Polaroid pictures. Most of them, Tim noticed, were of trees.

"You … like trees?" he asked.

"I like climbing them … but not when they're full of ants and other bugs."

"That's good. Excuse me, I need to go shower."

* * *

It unnerved Tim how much Kaianna loved photos.

 _Jay was more of the video guy,_ Tim thought before he could stop himself.

He exited the ensuite, towelling his hair dry, to find that Kaianna and her camera were gone. On her bed, countless Polaroids were scattered across the sheets. Some were of birds, most were of trees and some were of animals. They were all of nature and clearly labelled in neatly printed handwriting with names of what they depicted and the date they were taken (which Tim noticed were all written in a non-American way). _Sulphur Crested Cockatoo 14/6/15. Oak Tree 23/3/14. American Possum 10/2/16._

However, Tim noticed one wasn't like the others. A single photo was pushed away from the others on the bed, and it was completely black. The label read: _? 1/18/11_.

1/18/11. January 18 2011, by American dates. However, Kaianna had written all her other dates in the day/month/year format, so this date read the first day of the eighteenth month 2011 - a date that didn't exist.

Something about the photo made him shiver, so Tim dropped it and threw his towel on his bed before walking outside the room and into the parking lot. Kaianna wasn't far away, perched in a tree in the pool area trying to take a picture of a bird. It was almost dark and Tim couldn't understand why she was taking photos in such bad lighting, but he moved towards her. He was barely twenty feet away when he saw the person watching her from the edge of the fence.

They stood quietly, not moving a muscle. Kaianna didn't seem to know they were there, and she went ahead and snapped a few pictures of the bird before it flew away. The person wore old worn sneakers with faded jeans and a brown hoodie and cap. Their huge tired eyes were nothing but white, and blood slowly stained the fabric of their shirt as it leaked from a bullet wound in the side of their abdomen. Tim couldn't stop fast enough, so the person heard him coming and turned to face him.

It was Jay.

* * *

Tim couldn't remember what happened after that. The next thing he recalled was sitting on his bed in the motel room feeling very confused.

Slowly, he got up and opened the curtains. No one was in the parking lot, and Kaianna was making her way towards the room. She walked through the door, her camera hanging around her neck and some polaroids in her hand.

"Are you OK?" she asked when she saw him.

Tim flicked his eyes over to her. "Yeah, I'm … I'm fine. I was just looking for you."

"You don't look fine. You look like you saw a ghost."

 _I think I did_ , Tim thought to himself.

"I'm going for a shower," Kaianna said and placed her camera and the photos on her bed. She scanned them, and then picked up the black photo once she saw it was out of place. "Did you touch my pictures?"

"I … I was looking at them," Tim replied.

Kaianna sighed impatiently and stuffed the polaroids into their plastic wallet, with the black one going towards the very back. "That's OK, just … ask next time, will you?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

She turned to face Tim. "You know, sometimes you might get more than you bargained for if you go looking through people's things."

Tim didn't respond, so Kaianna picked up her things for her shower and headed into the ensuite. She left him standing there, wondering what she could have possibly meant by that statement.


	5. chapter 4: moving

**Chapter Four: Moving**

The night passed without any more issues, and Tim found that he slept better in the motel room than he had in the past month. _Maybe I just needed a change of scenery_ , he thought to himself as he rose from his bed in the early hours of dawn.

His cousin slept soundly as he poured a mug of boiling water and added the provided instant coffee to it. Once his morning drink was prepared, he stepped out into the crisp morning air and took a sip. There was a small private sitting area on the other side of the pool deck that he had seen when they had first arrived, so he made a beeline for it.

On the way over, he passed the spot where he had seen Jay - or Jay's ghost - standing yesterday. There was nothing to suggest that he had really been there, and Tim mentally blamed the lack of sleep and forgetting to take his pills before boarding the plane to Seattle for the vision. What he saw was nothing more than a trick of his mind, he managed to convince himself.

It took a long time to work, however.

Tim sat down on a small wooden bench and watched the traffic rush by, huddled up in his leather jacket and flannel and occasionally sipping his coffee. He sat like that for what seemed like an hour, forgetting about everything else and concentrating on the steady rise of the sun. He flinched slightly when he heard footsteps crunching the gravel that was spread around the sitting area, but relaxed when he saw Kaianna making her way towards him wearing a purple knit sweater, some jeans and lace up combat boots.

"I thought I'd join you," she said and sat down next to him with her own mug full of a hot liquid.

"By all means," Tim said and gestured to the air before taking a sip of his coffee. "What've you got there?"

"Hot chocolate," she replied. "I locked the room up, by the way, since no one was in there." She patted her jeans pocket and a soft metallic clink indicated that the room keys were safely stored inside it.

"Thanks," Tim nodded.

They gazed out onto the highway for a long time before Kaianna broke the silence.

"When we moved here from Australia, I was surprised by how busy the US is," she said. "I've been to some of the capital cities back home - Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, even the national capital Canberra - but Seattle was different. Everyone was always in a hurry and they didn't care about what anybody else was doing. It's the same in Australia, though. Always rushing, but not as fast." She paused before swallowing some of her hot chocolate and continued. "My parents used to rush. Dad got a job running a bank firm here, and Mum was busy doing the accounts and the paperwork. They were almost never home, and after Marcus died I don't think they wanted to stop because they didn't want to think about him too much."

"Marcus?" Tim asked softly.

"My baby brother. Marcus John Allen. He died a few weeks after he was born. Pneumonia, it was."

"I'm really sorry about your parents … and your brother." Tim let the news sink in before asking another question; the only one that came to his head. "Who was he named after?"

"Marcus comes from Mars, the Roman God of war, who was brave and noble. John comes from John Lennon." Kaianna laughed softly at this. "Dad was obsessed with John Lennon."

"What about you?" Tim asked and shifted around to better face his cousin. "What's your full name?"

"Kaianna Reanne Allen. Kaianna was just a name my mum liked for a long time, and Reanne means river. Mum liked rivers because they moved through life peacefully and they're a source of life. She hoped I could pick up some of the traits of a river; be calm, keep moving and help others. Her and Dad were also in the Navy, so they like water."

Tim couldn't help thinking how boring his name sounded. He finished his coffee and sighed. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Kaianna shrugged. "I'm not picky. Did you want to go to that restaurant?"

"Whatever. It's cheap. Our flight leaves at 2pm so we've got plenty of time."

They left the sitting area together, mugs in hand and gravel crunching beneath their feet.

* * *

The airport was quieter than usual, which Tim was secretly thankful for. Kaianna seemed bored while they were waiting, but she refused Tim's offer of buying her something from one of the thousands of specialty stores in the complex.

They boarded the plane a few minutes earlier than predicted and took off at exactly 2pm. Kaianna looked out the window most of the way, and didn't seem interested in making conversation with Tim. Not that he minded, though.

Once they had landed and retrieved all of their luggage, Tim flagged down a cab and it took them to his house. Kaianna seemed slightly underwhelmed at the sight of Tim's slightly neglected front garden, but once she stepped up inside her expression softened.

"Your house is nice," she commented politely as Tim helped her with her bags.

"Yeah, but it's not as great as some of the ones I've had previously, though," he replied and placed her bag down beside the couch. "Here, I'll show you to your room. It's down the hall."

"Is it this one here?" Kaianna asked and dashed up to the closest door in the hallway. She tried the knob but it was locked.

"Uh, no. That's my … junk room. There's just old moving boxes in there," Tim said hurriedly and guided her to the room next door. "This is the guest room."

He opened the door to reveal a small room furnished with a single bed and a nightstand with a mirror. Kaianna's face fell slightly.

"I've got a spare chest of drawers in my room that I'm not using, so you can have that if you want," Tim explained. "I'm also getting paid next week, so if you want we could do some decorating after that."

"Sure. I think it's fine for the time being, however." She turned to her cousin and hugged him, taking him by surprise. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"You … You're welcome." Tim awkwardly hugged her back.

* * *

Kaianna woke in the morning to the sound of keys jingling in the kitchen area. Tim was already up, and it sounded like he was leaving.

She rose from the bed and opened the window a fraction, letting the light spill in slightly. She dressed and did her hair before exiting the bedroom and walking into the kitchen. Tim was just about to walk out the door when he spotted her.

"Hey," he said and shut the door.

"Hey. Where are you going?" Kaianna asked.

"Um … I'm going to work," Tim replied slowly. "Sorry. I guess I should've told you about it yesterday."

"It's fine. When will you be back?"

"I'll come back around lunch time, but my shift doesn't end until four. Will you be OK here on your own?"

"Yeah, I've got your number."

"OK. There's cereal in the cupboard if you want breakfast. See you when I get back." Tim left and closed the door behind him.

Kaianna set to work making cereal and found some orange juice in the fridge. Tim's house was rather small, but it was big enough for two people to live in comfortably. It was nicely furnished, she noted, but she had stayed in nicer places.

She had just finished her breakfast and dumped her dirty dishes in the sink when she noticed the locked door in the hallway. Curiosity got the better of her, so she tried the knob again. It didn't budge.

The need to know was burning into her mind, and she carefully removed a bobby pin from her hair and slotted it into the lock. With some jiggling and twisting, the lock clicked open and the door swung in. Kaianna couldn't help but swallow when she saw what was in there.

Tim hadn't lied about the boxes, but these weren't moving boxes. They were clearly labelled in black permanent marker, and most of them read JAY'S THINGS. Some, however, read TAPES, CAMERAS or MARBLE HORNETS. They were stacked by the thousands against every wall, and the room was full of piles - some as high as the ceiling - of them teetering and threatening to come down.

Kaianna picked up a smaller box labelled CAMERAS and opened it. Inside, there was a GoPro attached to a chest strap and a small DVR camera - the kind that took the little cassette-like tapes. She tried to turn the GoPro on, but it only turned on for a few seconds before glitching and powering off. The DVR camera was also out of service - to her severe disappointment- so she packed them back into the box and shifted it to the side.

Another box that was marked TAPES was full of the tapes that went into the DVR camera nestled in little plastic cases, but none of them were labelled. Kaianna scrunched up her nose and shoved the box to the side before choosing a box labelled MARBLE HORNETS. It was the only one with this written on the side. This box was also full of tapes, but these ones were labelled with ENTRY #1, ENTRY #2 and so on. Curious, Kaianna sifted through the box until she found a small USB drive. Attached to it was a small keyring label that read _totheark_.

She rolled the small object around in her palm, her skin turning icy and her mind burning. What was with all the tapes and the cameras?

Something clicked behind her, and Kaianna whirled around to find nothing was there. Suddenly paranoid, she pocketed the USB and quickly arranged the boxes neatly before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.


	6. chapter 5: apparitions

**Chapter Five: Apparitions**

Tim got home from his shift a little later than he had expected. Fortunately, Kaianna had been keeping herself busy watching old episodes of American Horror Story on TV almost all day.

"Hey, I'm back," Tim announced and tossed his keys, wallet and phone onto the kitchen counter.

"Hey," Kaianna responded and flicked the TV off before standing up and sitting on one of the stools under the counter. "What's for dinner?"

"Um … I've got things in the fridge," he said and opened the door to it. "There's meat and … vegetables. Sorry, I'm not used to having company."

"It's OK. You said we were going shopping after you got paid anyways."

"Uh, yeah. I had to go food shopping for myself anyways."

Kaianna traced the outline of the USB from the box room in her pocket. "Cool."

Tim began to prepare dinner, and Kaianna helped wherever she could. After a mediocre dinner of steak, lettuce and tomato, Kaianna retired to her bedroom leaving Tim in the living room to watch TV.

Once she was sure Tim was occupied, Kaianna opened her laptop and plugged in the USB drive. A list of videos with single word names opened, and she started with the first one: Regards.

She was halfway through the video when something started to tap on her window. It scared her, and she flinched and quickly shut her laptop before turning and getting up to open her curtains. When she saw what was making the tapping noises, she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from screaming.

It was the dead guy who had been following her for a few months now. Yellow hoodie, white eyes and his broken neck confirmed his identity, and although she didn't even know his name he was constantly wanting to be near her, and if her presence was some guilty pleasure that he had to stop himself from indulging in. He had a friend, but she hardly saw much of him; however, he had been at the hotel in Seattle.

He tapped slowly and rhythmically on the glass with his knuckles, his face pleading to be let in. Kaianna gave in.

"Hello," she said softly and slid open the window. "You're back."

"Ark," he croaked as he always did, and something about his voice made her want to cry.

She reached out her hand and he took it, grasped it with an icy hand that seemed strong but transparent; it was as if he would turn to dust if she squeezed too hard. He was always wanting to hold her hand, and she was willing to let him because she wanted to help whatever way she could.

It was scary being so close, especially when his milky eyes rolled around as if keeping a lookout and his neck hung at an awkward angle that made it difficult to maintain eye contact. Kaianna guessed he had been in some sort of accident; a fall maybe, since there were no visible cuts or bruises to suggest that he had been in a car accident. Ever since her parents had died, she often wondered if they would ever visit her and hold her hand like they used to when they were alive.

A twig snapped in one of the neighbouring backyards, and the hooded man whirled around. Nothing was visible because of the darkness, but the man had obviously spotted something because he gave Kaianna's hand one last squeeze before running off in the direction of the front lawn. Cautiously, Kaianna scanned the area before closing the window and curtains and packing her laptop and the USB away into her bag. She had a feeling that someone really was outside, so she thought it would be best to stop watching the videos and go see what Tim was doing.

* * *

The last thing Tim expected to see that night was his dead best friend running across his front lawn.

He was doing the dishes at the time, and when he heard rustling in the hedge that fenced the house he looked up through the small window to see Brian sprinting across the grass, his head bobbing in a sickening way as he ran. He hadn't been in Tim's line of vision for even five seconds before he dove into some bushes and disappeared.

Tim was so startled that he dropped the knife he was cleaning into the sink, cutting his palm open in the process. Blood started pouring out of the shallow gash and it dripped into the water, so he quickly bundled up some paper towel and held it to the cut to stop the bleeding. It did a poor job, but Tim was more worried about the dead man walking - or running, as it was - on his lawn for the second time that month.

He opened the front door, walked along the path a few feet and searched the street, looking for some sign that Brian's ghost was still around. It took five whole minutes for him to decide that he just needed to go to bed earlier.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Kaianna's voice asked from the doorway, and Tim turned to see her standing behind him.

"I … no. Nothing's wrong. I just … thought I saw something," he replied.

"What did you see?"

"Nothing. It was nothing. I'm just tired." Tim sighed. "I'm going to bed."

Kaianna nodded slowly and gestured to the bloody paper towel balled up in his fist. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"Yeah, it's just a cut. I slipped when washing the knife. I'm OK, though. Nothing a bandage won't fix."

"I can finish up there if you want to go to bed," she offered.

"That would be great, thanks."

They both headed inside.

* * *

It was late when Kaianna finally dozed off. There was an unsettling feeling growing in the pit of her stomach, and it had been there ever since her ghost friend had taken off into the night so suddenly. Something was definitely outside, but Kaianna wasn't keen to find out what exactly it - or who - it was.

She tossed and turned as dreams drifted in and out of her subconscious. It was hard to stay asleep, and when she did drift off she would only wake up an hour later and the cycle would repeat.

When she woke in the morning, her curtains and window were open. A soft breeze sent the fabric floating and sunlight spilled into the room and on the carpet.

She had definitely closed them before bed.


	7. chapter 6: break and enter

**Chapter Six: Break and Enter**

Tim buttered his toast and pulled a plate from the drying rack before sitting down at the kitchen counter and beginning his breakfast. He was halfway through his first piece when Kaianna walked into the kitchen looking quite pale.

"Morning," she said vaguely, opening the cupboard and pulling down the cereal.

"Morning." Tim took another bite of his toast. "What's going on?"

"I'm … I'm not sure." She opened the fridge and took the milk out before opening it and pouring it into her bowl. It kept pouring and pouring before it eventually overflowed, sending milk and cereal down the side of the drawers and onto the floor.

Kaianna flinched, and when she realised what she had done she set the milk bottle down so fast onto the bench top that a bit more white liquid jumped out of the bottle.

"Woah, are you alright?" Tim asked and got up to assist her.

"I'm fine!" she said a bit too loudly. "Really. I just didn't sleep much last night, that's all."

Tim frowned. He could tell she was lying.

She saw his expression and relented. "I woke up this morning and my window was open, and I'm positive I closed it before I went to bed. You didn't come and open it at all last night, did you?"

Tim glanced around before considering his response. If his sighting of Brian and the open window in Kaianna's room was somehow connected, did that mean he was trying to hurt her?

"Yeah, I opened them. I'm sorry for giving you a fright. It was hot last night and I thought you might be a bit more comfortable," he said.

Kaianna sighed in relief. "That's OK. I just thought … yeah."

Tim bit his lip, feeling guilty for lulling her into a false sense of security. "I'm due to start work in an hour, but you don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

"No, I'm fine. Maybe I should go back to sleep," she insisted. "I'll see you when you come home. Bye." She walked off down the hall and into her room.

Tim cleaned up the mess before leaving for work.

Kaianna slept a bit better knowing that it was day time and anybody who was watching her from outside would've left. She hadn't bought Tim's lie for a second.

When she woke, it was well past noon. She got out of bed and fixed herself a sandwich before sitting down in front of her laptop on the couch. However, when she opened the pocket where she had hidden the totheark USB stick, it was empty.

Whoever had opened her window last night had entered her room and stolen it.

Goosebumps raised all the hairs on her arms and her throat felt tight. Whoever the hooded man had spotted last night, they didn't want Kaianna to see the videos on that stick. To be sure, she checked again and yielded the same result.

 _Maybe Tim found it and put it back where it belongs in the box room,_ she thought, trying to ease her panic.

Kaianna stood up and walked over to the box room, only to find that the door was slightly ajar. She froze and listened, and the distinct shuffling of cardboard and clicking of tapes drifted through the gap between the doorframe.

Someone was inside the box room.

Kaianna panicked. She wondered if she should call Tim, or the police, or run out of the house and wait for them to leave. One thing was for certain: she wasn't going in that room.

 _Well, OK. Maybe just a peek couldn't hurt._

The door swung open at a millimetre a second, her hands steadily pushing it in. Once there was enough room, she stuck her face to the crack and looked into the room.

Someone was definitely in there, but it wasn't one of the ghosts that visited her often; she would be recognised them if this was the case. It was a man around Tim's age, with brown hair and pale skin; too pale, Kaianna noted. His back was turned to the door, showcasing the various stab wounds that dotted his right shoulder and the side of his neck. Fresh blood mixed with older trails and it all cascaded down his back in a waterfall or red. His shirt was bloody and ragged like the rest of his clothes, and he was crouched on the floor digging through the MARBLE HORNETS box as though he was looking for something.

Something clicked in Kaianna's brain. _He's the one the hooded guy saw last night. He's the one who broke in. He's the one who took the USB._

A sudden pulse of courage and adrenaline surged through Kaianna's blood and she shoved the door open, causing it to creak loudly in protest. The man turned around to face her.

His face was mostly normal, except for the sagging yellowish skin and the faded eyes that were most likely once dark brown. Broken glasses sat askew on his face.

When he saw Kaianna, there wasn't a moment of hesitation. He ran at her, bloody pocket knife in hand, and attacked her.

Tim sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. It was the middle of fall, but the weather didn't seem to think so.

He had been at work for three hours so far, and he was due to have a break any second. However, the phone call came right on his designated break time.

He didn't recognise the number, and something stirred in his stomach - an uneasy feeling. It crossed his mind that he was being ridiculous, and answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Tim? It's Kaianna."

Something was definitely wrong. Tim had Kaianna's number saved to his phone, so she was obviously calling from somewhere else.

"Kaianna? What's wrong? This isn't your number. Where are you calling from?"

"I need you to come home."

"Is everything OK?"

"No, there's this guy-"

The call disconnected.

Tim had never moved so fast in his life.

"When's he coming?" the man hissed in Kaianna's ear as he held the knife to her neck.

"He should be here soon," she responded as calmly as she could.

The front door opened and Tim's footsteps pounded on the floor. "Kaianna?!" he shouted.

"I'm here," she called.

Tim skidded to a stop outside the box room door, and when he saw the man he stumbled backwards. Kaianna watched as all the colour drained away from his face.

"Alex," he breathed.

The man - Alex - chuckled. "Surprised to see me? Don't be. I know Brian and Jay have been coming to see you. Tell me where they went, and I might spare your cousin's life."

"You're supposed to be dead," Tim stuttered, holding the doorframe as if he would fall over.

"Don't play games!" Alex screamed, making Kaianna flinch. "Tell me where they went."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tim answered. "They're both dead. I haven't seen them for two years."

"You're lying. I know you saw Brian last night, because I saw him and so did she." Alex held the knife closer to Kaianna's throats and she inhaled sharply

"Wait!" Tim shouted. "I did see Brian last night, and I saw Jay a few days ago. That's all I can tell you. I don't know anything else. Just let Kaianna go and we can work something out."

"I want the flash drive with the coded videos on it. The totheark ones. Give it to me," Alex demanded.

"It's not here," Tim replied.

"Liar!" Alex spat.

"He's telling the truth," Kaianna said, to the surprise of both men. "It was stolen. I don't know who did it. Someone broke in last night and they took it with them."

"Brian," Alex growled. He let go of Kaianna and pushed her over to Tim, causing her to stumble. Tim grabbed her and pulled her into his arms.

"Go back to wherever you came from, Alex," Tim snarled. "Leave my family out of this."

"Your family is the reason this whole mess is happening again!" Alex roared. "Keep her under control, or I will!"

With that said, he vanished into thin air.


	8. chapter 7: deducing

They sat at the kitchen counter, not speaking but staring at the bench top.

Kaianna broke the silence. "You'd better start explaining yourself."

"I can't. I can't risk it happening again," Tim said and got up to pace around the room.

"Why was there a dead guy in our house?!" Kaianna shouted.

"I don't know!" Tim shot back. "I don't know anything! I don't know what's been happening, and you have a lot more explaining to do than me!"

"Highly unlikely," she said darkly. "How do you know these people? Are they dead, or what?"

Tim paused and ran a hand through his hair. "They're supposed to be."

"Then what the hell?! Why are they following me?!"

"I told you, I don't know. I'm not sure why they're following _you_ , but all I know is that they're supposed to be dead."

Kaianna sighed. "OK. Let's set up a ground rule here: no secrets. That means you have to come clean about everything, and so do I. You start, since you clearly have more knowledge than me on this topic."

Tim considered his options. He could either tell Kaianna the story of the past seven years - which could result in her either being stalked by that _thing_ or worse - or he could keep it to himself - which risked leaving her defenceless against Alex or anything else that tried to attack her. If he chose option one, Kaianna could end up just like him: an emotional and mental wreck. If he chose option two, she could be taken by Alex or whoever else he was working for.

"It's a long story," Tim said slowly.

"Then let's get started, shall we?"

Tim told Kaianna everything about Marble Hornets, totheark, the Operator, the deaths of Brian, Jay and Alex, and his own alternate mindset of the mask man.

At first, she didn't know how to react, but then she nodded slowly. "Some of my part makes a _lot_ more sense now."

"What do you mean?" Tim asked.

"I'll tell you everything, but you have to promise not to think I'm weird."

Tim scoffed. "It couldn't be any weirder than my life."

Kaianna smiled shyly before beginning.

"Almost two years ago, I was given my polaroid camera for my fourteenth birthday. My parents bought it from some shop, but when it was given to me I found the black photo already in the album and labelled with a black marker. I didn't show it to my parents, and I kept it hidden. In hindsight, I'm not really sure why I did it. I think I just wanted to know that something interesting was happening to me.

"So, I got my camera and started to use it a lot. I liked to go outside and take photos of nature because it was so peaceful. Then, one day, I saw someone standing underneath the tree I was in. I didn't really think anything of it at the time, and I was too busy trying to take a photo of some bird. It wasn't until I climbed down that I realised that this person was kind of … off. And, now I know that this person was Brian, your friend. I never saw him again, except for one other time when I was out taking photos. The last time I saw him was last night.

"Then, I started seeing Jay. The first time I saw him, he would follow me around with my camera, and another time it was both him and Brian following me. I started to get really disturbed by these random guys stalking me, so I tried to take a picture of them but the photo came out blurry and warped. I tried to take another one, but they had both vanished.

"I never saw Jay again until when we stayed in Seattle at the hotel. I know you saw him, but I didn't want to tell you because you would know that I saw him too. Whenever they visit me, they either want to hold my hand or stand near me, and I don't know why. It creeps me out, but I try not to let it show because I don't want them to disappear, as strange as that sounds. When I moved to Seattle, I was really lonely and I didn't have any friends, so Brian and Jay were the only real company I ever had. Even they weren't around that much.

"I never found out who took the black photo, and the date on it doesn't exist. I guessed it was some sort of code, but I never bothered to decipher it. And … I'm really sorry for taking that USB stick. I didn't know it had such important things on it."

"Don't be. I should've told you about it." Tim was silent for a moment, as he needed to make sense of Kaianna's recount. Finally, he asked a single question: "What is the ark?"

Kaianna shook her head. "Dunno. But whatever it is, it sounds important."

"Maybe it's a refuge from something?" Tim suggested.

"I think you're on the right track. We should write these things down, in case we lose our memories."


	9. chapter 8: shifting

**Chapter Eight: Shifting**

"I just got a call from a social worker," Tim said as he entered the kitchen.

Kaianna chewed the inside of her lip and swung slightly on the stool under the counter. It had been a little over two weeks since Alex had appeared in the box room, and getting a call from a social worker was hardly ever a good sign. "What did they want?"

"Just to check in. See how you're doing," Tim said. "She's coming over on Thursday."

That was two days away. "We can't tell her about the things that've happened."

"That's the last thing I would do," Tim frowned. "If they found out Alex broke into our house, they would take you away and put you in a foster home. I can't let that happen, not with Alex on the hunt for you."

"I don't want to go to a foster home," Kaianna mumbled.

"It'll be fine," Tim insisted. "She'll just come here, see that you're doing OK, and leave with a good report."

Kaianna stood up. "Is it OK if I go for a walk?"

"I'm not sure-"

She left without another word. Tim stayed there for a while, watching the door silently.

* * *

Kaianna wasn't sure where she was going, but it hardly mattered. She hadn't left the house for a solid three weeks, and the fresh autumn air was cool against her skin. The smell of rain hung in the air, and her sneakers made soft slaps as she strolled on the damp edge of the road.

Soon, she made it into the centre of town. From what she could remember, it was small compared to most places she had been to. Tim had tried to point out some points of interest when they had first driven through it on the way back from Seattle, but Kaianna hadn't been paying attention and was now kicking herself for it.

On the outskirts of the CBD - if you could even call a small cluster of shops and a supermarket a business district - there was a small park littered with papers. A few skeletal trees sat lonely next to some playground equipment. She made a beeline for the swings.

Dry leaves crunched as Kaianna slowly rocked back and forth on the swing. Her feet kicked up sand and sent it flying across the playground. She increased her height and speed, swinging almost over the top of the steel frame. She was steadying up when she saw it on the street corner.

No face. That was the warning sign that sent alarm bells ringing. It fitted Tim's description perfectly, and in the back of her mind Kaianna wondered why nobody else could see this tall, faceless creature dressed in a suit standing at the end of a pedestrian crossing. Kaianna tried to stop the swing and get off at the same time, resulting in her flying off and skidding through the sand. She dusted herself off, and took off down the street.

 _I have to get away_.

The thought coursed through her mind like the adrenaline in her veins, and her footsteps fell in time with her breathing. It was probably all those athletics lessons she did as a kid paying off.

 _I have to get home._

It was quick, but so sudden that Kaianna almost didn't notice it happening. Everything around her twisted and warped, and suddenly something hard collided with the front of her shoe and she fell on a thick blanket of dry leaves and twigs.

The first thing she noticed was the small pain in her big toe. She had tripped on a root, somehow, and maybe broken a toe. A quick scan of the area showed she was in some sort of forest, and the Operator was nowhere in sight.

Examination showed that her toe wasn't broken, but the nail had split and was slowly bleeding. It stung like antiseptic in a cut, but otherwise she was unharmed. She was more worried about why she was sitting in the middle of a forest.

Her phone was out of service, so there was no way she could contact Tim or anyone else. She was lost, and had no idea how she had gotten there. It was as if she had popped out of existence only to end up somewhere else.

A light suddenly shine in her eyes, blinding her. She raised a hand to shield her face and looked around for the source. Beside the glare, she could just make out someone crouching in the undergrowth on the other side of the creek, moving a piece of broken glass backwards and forwards to reflect the sunlight. It was Brian with his mask on, trying to catch her attention.

She took a step forward, and Brian lowered the glass. Another step made him drop it all together, and another sent him running through the forest. With an expert leap - which she immediately regretted because of her sore toe - Kaianna cleared the creek bed and set off after the man in the hoodie.

He led her through the thick woods, crashing through the shrubbery and weaving between trees. Before long, Kaianna lost sight of Brian and she stopped, bending over to catch her breath. She was sure that he had left her, but a quick glance forward confirmed that he was waiting for her a few yards away, squatting on the carpet of leaves. His head rested on his shoulder due to the awkward angle of his broken neck, but he didn't seem worried that Kaianna was taking forever to rest.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

Brian didn't answer.

Kaianna frowned. "OK, let's try another question. How did I get here? Is this that teleporting thing Tim was talking about?"

Brian shrugged.

"Please, listen. I need to get back home before Tim gets worried."

The man stood up and moved toward her, extending his hand out for her to take. Reluctantly, she took it and straightened up.

Brian pulled off his mask and tucked it into his belt, and then opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but decided instead to lead Kaianna to a small white tunnel. When they arrived, someone was already there. It was Alex, and it looked like he was waiting for someone.

* * *

It had been twenty minutes, and Kaianna hadn't answered any of Tim's calls.

He wouldn't have been worried if she had asked before going out, but Tim couldn't shake that old familiar feeling that something had happened to her. He tried her number again, and got the voicemail for the fifth time.

"Hi, this is Kai. Please leave your name and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!" the voicemail said cheerily in her voice.

Tim left a message. "Hey Kai, it's Tim. Uh, please call me if you get this. Thanks, bye."

He hung up, and threw his phone onto the couch in frustration. He should've stopped her from walking out like that. He should've done something.

"Missing something?" a familiar voice asked from his kitchen. Tim looked up to see Jay's ghost leaning against the counter.

It should've alarmed him that Jay's ghost was inside his house and talking to him, his bullet wound slowly pooling blood on the polished counter top. Not in the mood for anything like this, Tim scowled and snatched up his phone, but Jay ignored him.

"If you're looking for Kaianna, I know where she is."

"Enlighten me, then," Tim said, trying not to laugh for a reason unknown to him. "Where is she? Dead on the side of the road somewhere? Did that thing take her, the last person I have left on this Earth?"

"Brian has her in Rosswood," Jay informed him casually.

Tim turned so he was fully facing Jay. "It'll take me five hours to drive there."

Jay shook his head. "I know a quicker way."


End file.
